Access FSU Episode 04: Finding the ME in Social Media Air date: 6/14/2021 KimBoo: Welcome to access FSU, the podcast for the Office of Accessibility Services at Florida State University. Your host accessibility specialist Shannon Bernick and Accessible Technology Coordinator KimBoo York. We are here to shine a solutions-oriented spotlight on issues and concerns for university students of all levels, including undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate, and non-degree seeking. Thank you for joining us. Welcome back to access FSU. This is our fourth episode and this week we are going to explore another presentation that Shannon has done in the past for some of our students that got a lot of good reviews and some good reception. And we think it's very timely. And the title of it is "finding the ME in social media," which Shannon came up with that I really love, I really love what you did with that, Shannon. It is talking about social media as a tool. And I think given the ubiquitousness of social media and social networks sites, we tend to think of it almost as an extension of ourselves. And forget that is actual software, a website, a tool that we're using to interact with the world around us. So we're going to be addressing some of those issues today. And especially in regards to you college students, students with disability, Shannon's going to get into all of that. My role as usual is to put the occasional humerus off sides and some of my own experience from the technological and IT side of, you know, I was there on AOL from the start in the nineties. I was on USEnet, one of the first users of Yahoo Groups. So I've been through at all, seen it all happen. And you know, as they say in the great television show, Battlestar Galactica: it will all happen again. And so that's where we are today in 2021. So the first question — so I'm just going to go ahead and launch right into it, There's not a lot of intro to be had on this more than I've already said. So rather than scramble around, I'm just going to leap right into it. Shannon, You ready? Shannon: Absolutely! KimBoo: Okay, so the first thing I think we should clarify for students is talking about the world as it is for them right now. What are the social media types that are out there? What are students using?? What does the research showing us on what is popular Now? And I know that's, that's a hard target because things are always changing, but what's it say? Shannon: Yeah, so, um, so first of all, it's good to talk about what is considered social media. And we know that it includes websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. And you'll see a lot of different categories in terms of social media. That generally there are four types that are recognized. One of the most popular, of course, is social networking. So these are sites like LinkedIn, which are fantastic in a college or a professional setting. And also things like Facebook that people also use on in a more personal way. There are microblogging sites like Twitter and Tumblr, photo sharing like Instagram and Snapchat, even Pinterest. And then of course, video sharing like YouTube or Facebook Live. And many of these are very popular among college students. In 2018, a survey was conducted of which ones were most popular. And Snapchat, by far, was the most popular among college students. And that was followed by other things like YouTube and Facebook. And then of course, there were less popular applications at that time like discord in tik tok, which we know of course had been on the rise, especially tik tok, quite popular today. KimBoo: Yeah, it is funny looking at the graph in 2018 in Internet terms might as well be a glacial epoch ago. I'm sure Snapchat is still holding tight in there, but definitely Twitter and discord and Tiktok have snuck up. As, as Shannon knows, I am on Twitter, I'm actually on most of these platforms to varying degrees just in order to keep up with things like usability issues, accessibility issues, as well as friends and family. That's what Facebook's for. [laughter] Shannon: KimBoo, you and I are like a perfect balance of social media because you're on all of them and I'm not on ANY of them! [laughter] If we combine the two of us we have a great balance! KimBoo: Exactly! Together, we make a really healthy social media user! [laughter] I was looking over the slides earlier and I was like, Oh no, this is, this is, yeah. So big lessons, and we'll get into those in a little bit. Of course the focus of Access FSU is students with disabilities, not just at FSU, but anywhere where there are students with disabilities in higher education at any level. What are some of the issues and benefits for students with social media related to students with disabilities. Shannon: Yeah. So I think when we think about students with disabilities in terms of social media, we think a lot about those mental health issues and not just a mental health diagnosis. Also, some of the mental health and social interaction pieces that come into play with other disabilities that might make it difficult for students to interact in person. However, we know that social connection is one of humans greatest needs. In fact, some researchers even put it right up there with food and shelter, right? We are very social creatures. We depend on one another for survival. And of course, this has led to a lot of research and a study that came out at the University of Pennsylvania, which we all know is close to my heart because that's my home state and also where my husband went to college, they actually had a study conducted of 143 undergraduate students where they were randomly assigned to either limit their Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat use to about ten minutes per platform per day or to continue using it regularly. And the results found that that limited use group actually showed significant reductions in their loneliness and depression over three weeks compared to the control group. So this is huge, right? If you have a mental health diagnosis or if you experience mental health concerns as a result of another diagnosis. But of course both groups show decreases in anxiety and that fear of missing out over the baseline, suggesting that there is a benefit to self-monitoring your use. And so of course, later in our discussion today, we're going to talk about exactly how to limit social media so that it actually contributes to your well-being as opposed to inhibiting your well-being. KimBoo: Yeah... I know since I am privileged to have a sneak peek of the presentation, I know we're going to get into that whole FOMO issue in more detail. And that's going to be an important one. And I definitely have some experience with that one. In the meantime, especially given this past year plus, where we've been living in a pandemic, lockdown has been an issue for those of us in America, for those of us all over the world. What are the benefits of using social media for students in particular? Yeah, and so obviously the benefits are very far-reaching. And we can start right at the college environment, you know where all we operate. And that's those enhanced learning management systems. So we have chat functions, videos, forums to share information and of course, other lesser resources which are very helpful for students because they strengthen the student participation and they make collaboration and team projects so easy to do. Of course, it aids with research work, with distance learning opportunities using Skype or Zoom, which we've all become experts on. There's information sharing. We can share our views, opinions, tips, projects, study materials, any kind of resources that we have. And it makes it so easy to work together in a group, sharing all of those resources. Again, we have a web engagements where you can meet with your professors or classmates. And it just goes on extending out from the college environment. From there, we get news updates and global exposure. And then on a more personal level, it makes it easy to find friends who have similar interests to us. We can build supportive online communities that create that feeling of belonging and pride in any organization, which is so important, especially for students with disabilities. I remember when we had Beth Thompson on from the Center for Health and Wellness, she shared with us the Disability After Dark group or...yes, Disabilities After Dark, which just a really unique group that you might not be able to find in your local community. But of course, social media helps widen your community and find people with similar interests. And of course, it helps to raise awareness, which we know nowadays with all of the social justice campaigns and the equity diversity and inclusion efforts, it is just essential in raising awareness for those concerns. And of course, it can help with marketing.